Tough times on road ahead?

About a week after becoming a former Sprint Cup driver when his team was shut down, Dario Franchitti was asked how things were going.

Jim Pedley

About a week after becoming a former Sprint Cup driver when his team was shut down, Dario Franchitti was asked how things were going.

"Not great," Franchitti said. "It was a big shock that it happened."

That shock, some around NASCAR are saying, could soon be spreading like crabgrass. Tough economic times have descended upon the American economy, and that spells bad news for a sport that is joined at the hip, shoulders and ankles to the business community.

Sponsorship money for teams, cars and drivers appears to be thinning significantly, some are saying.

Asked last week what he thinks the sponsorship picture looks like right now, Jeff Burton — one of the headier drivers in NASCAR — said, "It's lean. It's very lean."

The finding and mining of sponsorship money has been a race within the racing in NASCAR for decades. Speed, as the saying goes, costs money.

But things are different these days. Money supplies are down for potential sponsors, and the cost of racing is up — way up. It is estimated that the successful teams are spending $25 million a year per car to race in Sprint Cup.

And the situation with Franchitti was different. Having won last year's Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar championship, and being married to movie star Ashley Judd, Franchitti would appear to be marketable in the extreme.

He also was hired to drive in Cup this year with a high-profile team, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

"It was a big surprise," Franchitti said of his team going under. "I mean, I knew the situation and the sponsorship wasn't there, but it was a surprise to me. I think it was probably a surprise to Chip as well, judging by his tone of voice."

Sponsorship is, basically, advertising. And during tough economic times, advertising is viewed by business as a place to cut costs.

In addition to the problems at Ganassi, some other high-profile teams have had problems attracting sponsorship this year, such as Yates Racing, whose two cars have raced at times this year without corporate support.

The Navy announced recently that it would not be back as sponsor of the Nationwide team owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Don Hinchey, vice president of communications for the Bonham Group, a Denver-based sports and entertainment marketing firm, said yes, it is the economy that is reaching down into the NASCAR world.

"The NASCAR (phenomenon) appears to have hit a wall," Hinchey said.

He said that companies are taking looks at all of their advertising outlays. "They are facing scrutiny from their shareholders," Hinchey said. NASCAR has been through economic downturns before. Burton mentioned earlier in the decade, when it appeared that there would not be enough entrants to fill 43-car fields.

"I see something similar to that," Burton said. "I see less full-time teams involved next year. I may be wrong about that, but I know teams are unsponsored and I have a hard way of understanding how they can exist without sponsorship."

NASCAR officials say they are not overly concerned about the situation. In fact, they disagree with Burton.

"There are over 400 sponsors currently sponsoring teams in our three national series," said Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications. "Over 100 sponsors are Fortune 500 companies and represent America's blue-chip companies. Does that mean that anyone who wants sponsorship gets it? Of course not. The sport is very healthy. Unfortunately there are not enough people focused on all the new sponsors and those that have renewed contracts."

Richard Childress, whose team has three cars this year and is adding a fourth next year, also proclaimed the sport healthy. And, he offered companies who are considering — or re-considering — NASCAR investments, some advice.

"I think it's kind of like going back into the Great Depression," Childress said. "Companies that backed off of advertising during that time are not the top companies in the world today, and companies that went into advertising and went ahead and did their thing in tough times, they are still here today and doing good."

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